Throughout this entire experience I have been barraged with matters of social studies, language arts, science and mathematics! Because I'm getting down to the nitty gritty, all of these thoughts are flooding my mind. The elementary school teacher in me just can't help myself.
Related to social studies, I've visited historical sites that included Indian mounds, battlefields, pioneer villages and cemeteries. I've used map reading skills and appreciated the roles that different organizations and government agencies (both county and state) have played in the creation and maintenance of the many beautiful places I've visited.
Things I've learned and taught about in the language arts classroom were valuable as well. I did a lot of reading about the places I've visited. I used communication skills, both oral and written. I recruited my fellow hikers via phone calls, text messages and FaceBook messages. I also solicited information from locals when I was lost. Most of these skills have come into play while writing this blog. For example, I created a graphic organizer before writing this post!
Scientifically speaking, this subject was the greatest part of my graphic organizer. I visited a variety of habitats: forests, wetlands, meadows. All of the plants in these habitats were more than one could imagine. Not only were there all kinds of trees, there was ground cover, vines, flowers, lily pads and stinging nettles!!!! I saw fossils and a life-sized diorama of mastadons and wooly mammoths. The weather has factored into every hike. Will it be sunny or cloudy? Dry or Rainy? Snowy? Windy? I would be remiss if I didn't mention all of the rocks and landforms. Also, the animals! I saw toads, frogs, a snake, birds, deer and LOTS of insects. One insect that we saw on a hike this week to Beaver Creek was a praying mantis that reached an unfortunate demise. Morgan was leading with Joe following closely behind. We were walking through a wetland area and the trail was a boardwalk. Morgan shouted, "A praying mantis!" But, not soon enough. When Joe looked down we couldn't find it. It was under his foot. In this case, the science of camouflage did not work in this little bug's favor. His whole body was brown in order to conceal his appearance, thus he got stepped on. Camouflage...not always a safety measure! So sad.
Every week I was using mathematics to estimate, calculate, and reflect on the journey. I figured how long it would take to travel to each location and the time it would take to complete the hike. This allowed us to determine what time we would leave. I measured the distance of each hike to see how far I traveled and kept a running total. I counted the number of hikes down and the number of hikes left. I studied the elevation changes for the hikes on graphs included in the book. I also studied the graphs for this blog that show statistics for page views and visitor information. I know there is so much more that I could include in this post about all of the different disciplines that were part of this journey. But the constant integration of all of these subjects over this experience makes me wonder, why do we teach each in such isolation in schools?
One of the hikes this week was to John Bryan State Park. I took over 70 pictures. The fall beauty was overwhelming and I think it has put me in a very reflective state. I have completed 52 hikes and have 8 hikes left. There are some challenges that remain. One of these is the far distances necessary to get to the remaining hikes; they involve doing more than one hike in a day. I am finding it hard to carve out this kind of time. Another challenge is the weather. It is unpredictable in the fall and I'm hopeful that the blessings I've had with good weather will continue. Finally, I have some weekend commitments that will make it difficult to hike. So, even though I have only 8 hikes left, this is all still taking quite a bit of effort. I will take a deep breath and trust that this can be done.
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